Florida

[BrainDonor]

Lost my second battery capacity bar at 15.5K miles, four months after I lost my first bar. Max GIDs averages 210. Still able to get over 70 miles on a charge if needed but the "Let's see how far I can go without charging" game is over. I now charge up at least every other day.

Range has never been a big limiting factor since I have a 20 mile RT commute. Waiting to see if Nissan delivers on their promise of a heat resistant battery by this Spring.

Welcome to the club. You can see it's a function of time (at warmer temperatures like we have here) aggravated by mileage. I can look to braindonor's experience to see my future, just a couple months behind him.

Well, we've lost our 3rd capacity bar yesterday at 34,500 miles - we're down to 9 bars now. From a full charge, drove to Hollywood (45 miles, of which 38 were on I-95 at 60 mph) and had 11 miles on the GOM when we arrived.

 

[BrainDonor]

Sorry about the extra posts. I posted my original message over the weekend and got an error from the server, so I tried from another computer and got the same error telling me to try again later. So I did! :-( But I should have checked the forum just in case my prior message made it somehow.

In any case, we're down to 9 bars and the lease is up at the end of November. We're considering our options, leaning towards leasing a MY 2015 S or SV with a more attractive lease. At the current driving rate we'll be about 5-6K miles over the 36K limit on the current lease. Does anyone know if Nissan is flexible on the extra mileage if you plan to lease another LEAF?

P.S.: The other car we have is an SUV which costs $0.22/mile in gas to drive. The LEAF costs $0.03/mile in electricity to drive. So even though we're putting more miles on the LEAF than the current lease allows, the actual cost of the extra miles is $0.03 + $0.15 = $0.18/mile, which is still less than the SUV.

 

[hodad66]

Having only one vehicle I just turned in my 2012 Volt for
a new lease on a 2014. Same color, base model, save about
$70 per month on this lease.

 

[spike09]

we're down to 9 bars and the lease is up at the end of November.

I'm down to 9 bars as well. Lost a bar on May 4th with 21,649 miles on the odometer. I hope Nissan has the Hot battery pack available by the time I lose another bar.

 

[Weatherman]

spike09 and BrainDonor, did either of you get the software update, which is supposed to improve the accuracy of the capacity readings? I got it done last year and am still holding onto 11 bars (although I expect the 11th to fall sometime in the next two months).

Range sucks, however. I went from a 100% charge to LBW in only 44 miles, just a few weeks ago.

 

[BrainDonor]

spike09 and BrainDonor, did either of you get the software update, which is supposed to improve the accuracy of the capacity readings? I got it done last year and am still holding onto 11 bars (although I expect the 11th to fall sometime in the next two months).

Range sucks, however. I went from a 100% charge to LBW in only 44 miles, just a few weeks ago.

Yes, I got the software update at the 2 year battery check in December. Have not noticed any improvement.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

We just passed the 30k mile mark holding at 10 bars, but your experience suggests the next bar has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

Still making a 50 mile RT commute (~half sawgrass, half surface) though coming home with 8-10 showing on the GOM. Hoping to see the 3 month early out on the lease deal later this summer. Ideal would be to get into a hot battery car with the faster charging at a much lower payment. I have little confidence Nissan will come though in time, or for that matter whether the hot battery cars will even be clearly identified. I would even consider buying out the one we have if I had any confidence Nissan had my back on replacing the battery. More inclined to just re-up on another lease until more is known.

 

[keydiver]

My LEAF held at 82% all winter, but now with the return of the hot weather I just passed 25,000 with 81%. With both the 19% loss and the huge loss I've seen with the new Michelin tires, it can be challenging to drive the car some days. But, I own it, so I'm going to stick it out no matter what, and hope I qualify next year for a new Lizard battery. In the meantime, 100% charging has become necessary a lot more often.
But, oooohh, my local Nissan dealer just mailed me a letter offering me $14,000 for my Leaf! The same Leaf they sold me for $41,000 29 months ago.
I forgot to add: I had the software update done back in December, and can't really say I saw any difference at all.

 

[spike09]

My LEAF held at 82% all winter, but now with the return of the hot weather I just passed 25,000 with 81%. With both the 19% loss and the huge loss I've seen with the new Michelin tires, it can be challenging to drive the car some days. But, I own it, so I'm going to stick it out no matter what, and hope I qualify next year for a new Lizard battery. In the meantime, 100% charging has become necessary a lot more often.
But, oooohh, my local Nissan dealer just mailed me a letter offering me $14,000 for my Leaf! The same Leaf they sold me for $41,000 29 months ago.

I have been charging every day since I lost my second bar. My round trip is still only 25 miles so I can wait for the hot battery to come along before I swap out my old ones.

I purchased the LeafDD (GID Meter) last summer. It plugs into the OBDII port and allows you to monitor the batteries in much higher detail. I have been removed from the tyranny of the GOM. I saw the loss of my 3 bar coming well in advance. Currently my max charge is 196 Gids.

 

[spike09]

spike09 and BrainDonor, did either of you get the software update, which is supposed to improve the accuracy of the capacity readings? I got it done last year and am still holding onto 11 bars (although I expect the 11th to fall sometime in the next two months).

Range sucks, however. I went from a 100% charge to LBW in only 44 miles, just a few weeks ago.

Yes, I got the software update at the 2 year battery check in December. Have not noticed any improvement.

Same here. The software update improved the accuracy of the GOM but I mostly go by GIDs now that I have a LeafDD GID meter.

 

[N1ghtrider]

Has anyone used the chargers in the Palm Beach Outlets mall? Plugshare shows 6 free level 2 chargers there. I need to drive up from Miami for a couple of days and will be staying at the Hawthorn Suites about three quarters of a mile from the outlets. Thanks

Roy

 

[N1ghtrider]

These new charging stations at the Palm Beach Lakes Outlet Mall are open, free, and fast. Although they are L-2, in two hours I gained back 8 of the 9 bars lost in driving from Miami to West Palm Beach.

When I drove up to WPB on Wednesday, I used the "update charging stations" feature on Carwings, but these stations still did not appear. By Thursday they showed up.

 

[evenoelle]

These new charging stations at the Palm Beach Lakes Outlet Mall are open, free, and fast. Although they are L-2, in two hours I gained back 8 of the 9 bars lost in driving from Miami to West Palm Beach.

When I drove up to WPB on Wednesday, I used the "update charging stations" feature on Carwings, but these stations still did not appear. By Thursday they showed up.

You are far braver than I am. I haven't ventured any farther than Kendall to Wilton Manors.

 

[N1ghtrider]

I knew that I had the Clematis Street garage as a fallback, which charges for parking but has a free L-2 charging station.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Lost the third bar today at 31,364. Might have been sped up a little by the volt-roaster effect but not significantly. We've never bothered with stuff like leaf spy, you could just tell it was coming.

Should be OK to make it to the end of the lease but getting tight on the 50 mile rt commute.

 

[N1ghtrider]

I drove from Miami to West Palm Beach on Tuesday, hoping to recharge at the Chargepoint station shown at City Center off of Okeechobee while I took care of business a few blocks away on Australian Avenue. Unfortunately, after driving around the garage and not seeing the stations, the parking attendant told me that they are not open to the public except on weekends, and were behind a gated level in the garage. I ended up going back to the Palm Beach Outlets Mall off of Palm Beach Lakes Blvd (1.7 miles from my meeting place) and getting a ride from there to my meeting. I could have used the Clematis Street garage charging station, which is only a mile from where I was going, but then I would have to pay to park and the Outlet Mall parking is free.

Roy

 

[Weatherman]

In light of the supposed more durable battery in the 2015 LEAF, and the option to buy a new battery at some point in the future, what are all you Florida early adopters thinking about doing with your 2012 LEAFs.

I'm considering stopping by a dealer this evening to see if I can roll my 2012 SV lease forward to a two-year lease on a 2015 S with a QC port added. The goal will be to see if I can lower my $360/month lease payment, and get the added benefit of a faster L2 charger, a QC port and a more durable battery in return.

I wouldn't mind extending my LEAF experiment for another couple of years for those benefits.

 

[N1ghtrider]

Good luck with that. I tried to do something with the lease on my first LEAF when prices came down the next year, but got nowhere. Let us know how you fare.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

In light of the supposed more durable battery in the 2015 LEAF, and the option to buy a new battery at some point in the future, what are all you Florida early adopters thinking about doing with your 2012 LEAFs.

I'm considering stopping by a dealer this evening to see if I can roll my 2012 SV lease forward to a two-year lease on a 2015 S with a QC port added. The goal will be to see if I can lower my $360/month lease payment, and get the added benefit of a faster L2 charger, a QC port and a more durable battery in return.

I wouldn't mind extending my LEAF experiment for another couple of years for those benefits.

I was thinking the same thing but try to get a 2014. (ref my thread on getting a pre-lizard model)

 

[Weatherman]

With 12 payments left on my 2012, it comes to $4,320 needing to be rolled forward. Pretty significant chunk of change. Should be interesting to see what the dealer has to say.

Also, I wouldn't want to go for a 2014. I've already been there and done that with the 20%+ capacity loss in 18 months. At least with the 2015, there's a possibility the losses won't be quite as fast.